We are delighted to announce that our rediscovered candlelight painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, Two Boys with a Bladder has been acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The painting was a highlight of our stand at TEFAF 2019 and after a temporary export ban has been acquired by the museum.
We are immensely proud to have reinstated this major masterpiece by one eighteenth-century Europe’s most significant artists. The candlelight paintings are such enigmatic and intellectually significant objects, as well as being technically virtuosic and beautiful works of art. Our research established that Two Boys with a Bladder, which was completely unknown to scholarship, was the missing pendant to Wright’s beloved Two Girls Dressing a Kitten at Kenwood House. We are thrilled that such an important painting is heading to the Getty, where its full significance can be explored and enjoyed by everyone.